Deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is going viral online once again due largely to conspiracy theorists spreading debunked information.
The resurgence began last week when DailyMail.com reported that the final batch of court documents related to 167 of Epstein’s associates, victims, and employees would be made public in the coming months.
The documents mention the names of “alleged perpetrators” and those accused of “serious wrongdoing” and stem from a 2015 defamation case against Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of Epstein’s who is currently serving 20 years in prison for charges including sex trafficking.
Although the documents have yet to be released, conspiracy theorists immediately began sharing files that they claimed were the ones mentioned by DailyMail.com. The documents, however, were old and had already been made public in 2019.
A post on the popular r/Conspiracy subreddit featured the documents released in 2019 and tried to pass them off as new.
Yet as the old documents were being shared online, another legitimate revelation regarding Epstein surfaced. On Wednesday, court filings from the U.S. Virgin Islands detailed emails between Epstein and former JPMorgan executive Jes Staley, suggesting that he “may have been involved in Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.”
Once again, the breaking story led to an explosion of fake news online. A list of high-profile names that allegedly visited Epstein’s infamous private island Little Saint James went viral on Twitter, causing the term “Epstein” to become one of the platform’s top trends.
One user shared the list in a tweet aimed at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who she claimed had visited Epstein’s island.
“Last night I tweeted @JustinTrudeau asking why he was on Epstein island. The tweet vanished,” the user known as Republican Canadian Girl wrote. “So I’ll repost. Justin, why were YOU on Epstein island? Was grooming your students and taking advantage of them not enough?”
Other names on the list include celebrities such as Chrissy Teigen, Ellen DeGeneres, and Oprah Winfrey.
Some on the list, like NBA stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, have never been tied to Epstein in any way.
But none of those individuals ever visited the island. Regardless, the only legitimate list names those who used Epstein’s plane, not who visited Little Saint James.
Although some of those listed did in fact fly on Epstein’s plane, such as former President Bill Clinton and actor Kevin Spacey, fake names added to the list continue to fool conspiracy theorists.
Ironically, those who claim to be the most invested in the Epstein saga seem to be the ones most often spreading misinformation. Even as more legitimate information comes out, conspiracy theorists will somehow find a way to distort the truth.
